


Veles

by JoAsakura



Series: Sea and Storm [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-04
Updated: 2012-06-04
Packaged: 2017-11-06 20:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/422937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoAsakura/pseuds/JoAsakura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a companion to Perun.</p><p>Shepard knows a magic word.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Veles

Shepard knew, from that very first moment, that he was lost.

It wasn't just that Kaidan Alenko was good-looking and honest, earnest and brave. (It was the way he told Shepard the secrets buried behind his dark eyes, the way he made his biotics dance like magic compared to the blunt, brute force of Shepard's own powers. It was the way that Shepard *felt* him on the battlefield at his back - deep and quiet and calm as an ocean at night. )

He doesn't realise that the other man's name has become something of a benediction until he's waist deep in collector drones. The only light in the darkness is Samara's biotic shield and the air is filled with buzzing and moaning and the sheer enormity of everything is threatening to drown Shepard in horror.

It doesn't matter that Kaidan is pissed at him, thought he was a traitor. If he's slogging through this nightmare, Shepard is damn well going to give himself a light at the end of the tunnel, and the name becomes a magic charm in the back of his head.

(Kaidan, you jackass. I'm going to yell at you so much when i get out of this. I swear.)

(Kaidan, I know you're mad at me, but shut up for a damn second and let me explain.)

(Kaidan, I am so fucking scared right now and I wish I had you at my side, but I'm really glad you can't see this.)

It's a magic charm, whispered under his breath as he cradles a broken body against him, a martian sandstorm howling at their backs.

(Kaidan, I don't want us to fight anymore. Just open your eyes, and I swear, you can call me whatever you want.)

(Kaidan, please. I just got you back. You can't do this to me.)

(Kaidan, you jackass. I'm going to yell at you so much when you wake up. I swear.)

He says it over and over as they make love in the dim orange light of his cabin, and it means "I love you" and a billion other things. The magic in it makes the darkness behind his eyes less frightening, gives him a safe place that is calm and quiet and deep as the ocean at night to drift in away from the storms in his head.

He says it over and over as he lurches, broken and bleeding towards the blinding light, half-deaf from the explosion and the sheer enormity of everything threatening to drown him again in horror.

It doesn't matter that everyone and everything ever is counting on Shepard. Kaidan was out there in the cold and ash, fighting for him, and his name is a magic charm, forcing life into dead muscles and shattered bones.

(Kaidan, I'm gonna fight like hell to hold you again, too. Wait for me.)

~~

He doesn't know how long he lies in twilight, hollowed out and empty from the catalyst's power, barely attached to the wreck of flesh he lives in. He barely knows his own name in those endless moments.

But he knows that he knows a magic word, a charm that keeps him from losing himself completely and keeps him safe and calm and quiet until help arrives.


End file.
